Rant - Freecycle users

teddysmum

Esqui wrote: »

However, one thing I'm sure we can agree on is that things like this are the worst:


"Hi, I'm looking for a TV for my daughter's bedroom. We have just redecorated her bedroom and she would like a TV to go in it. Must be at least 26" and HAS to be a flatscreen with Freeview and preferably a DVD player built in.


Thanks"

..or fridge, freezer, washing machine and cooker...must all be silver.

On our local, after someone gave away an old car, with a few months mot and tax, there was a request for a car which must have these and be only a certain age.

The mods banned one person and posted a thread explaining why: He had advertised a nearly new plasma tv, just to see how many would take the bait...very tempting when you observe the greed.

You can just imagine eyes lighting up and murmurs of 'I'll have that'. These words and 'I'll take it off your hands', making me immediately delete any enquiry.

mttylad

ISTR the plasma TV one was a national scam where they were extorting monies from those that replied.

It happens and we try to keep them away from the groups, both Freecycle and Freegle etc.

monty-doggy

pimento wrote: »

I don't get the giving stuff away because you need the house space and then passing judgement on the people who want it. So what if they're going to sell it? Nothing is stopping you doing just that if you want to.

I've given a few things away and have never had any trouble. The last thing was all my son's old baby clothes. They were taken by a woman who was about to go to Africa to volunteer in a hospital. She just happened to contact me first.

I could have sold it, but in the spirit of helping someone less fortunate I was giving it to someone I thought needed it....ESP as their request included a tale of how her child needed to be out of a cot blah blah blah....

It just puts a sour taste on doing something good.

Hoof_Hearted

I went into Freecycle wanting to give others a bit of a hand. Somebody moves into their first house and is trying to get a few bits of furniture together or a large family with not much money who need good clean childen's clothes. You just get the sense that some, not all, who take the stuff are running a mini enterprise. This is obvious when the person collecting just doesn't appear to really need the item.

katejo

teddysmum wrote: »

..or fridge, freezer, washing machine and cooker...must all be silver.

On our local, after someone gave away an old car, with a few months mot and tax, there was a request for a car which must have these and be only a certain age.

The mods banned one person and posted a thread explaining why: He had advertised a nearly new plasma tv, just to see how many would take the bait...very tempting when you observe the greed.

You can just imagine eyes lighting up and murmurs of 'I'll have that'. These words and 'I'll take it off your hands', making me immediately delete any enquiry.

Some time ago I offered a working Freeview box. The guy who took it emailed me a day or two later. He wanted me to collect it back from him as it didn't give him more channels than the one which he already had !

hollydays

A friend of mine was once given a virtually new leather sofa on there , no one else bothered to look or collect-it wasn't till he got there he saw what condition it was

hollydays

You get this manipulation other places, and it also leaves a bad feeling. Advertised a games console ,on gumtree, got offered half the price I advertised , with the sob story of terminal illness etc-yet somehow the chain of messages seemed to indicate someone who knew exactly how much ( little) I would have got on eBay ..

JimmyTheWig

pimento wrote: »

I don't get the giving stuff away because you need the house space and then passing judgement on the people who want it. So what if they're going to sell it? Nothing is stopping you doing just that if you want to.

I think it's the dishonesty that I don't like.
If I've got something that I could sell but can't be bothered (especially if it needs cleaning / doing up to sell it) then I'd be happy for someone to come and collect it and sell it themselves.
But I wouldn't be happy for someone to say they needed it for such-and-such sob story to then find out they had sold it.

Likewise I'd be miffed if someone collected it with the intention of selling it then found it didn't sell and dumped it. Someone who actually needs the item themselves is less likely to dump it.

paulineb_2

The only problems Ive ever had with freecycle are people who dont want to travel to me to collect it. Im not a driver and a couple of times Ive done a bus trip 6 miles each way because the other person wasnt a driver either and didnt want to travel to me to get it.

But most people have come to me to collect things and if I was ever going to be in another town in the passing Ive arranged to meet them there.

likelyfran

I've used Freecycle a few times - only ever to give stuff away.
I don't bother now as you're far too likely to get a weirdo/ungrateful wretch coming to the door.
There's loads of charity shops near me so they benefit from my clearouts now.